Starting the school year right

Thanks to Texas Baptists, 1,000 students are ready and hopeful for their first day of school.

Working with Frito-Lay and a local cosmetics school, Texas Baptist Men and the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board staff provided lunch, backpacks, school supplies and gospel presentations for 1,000 students in a community near downtown Dallas.

The staff also distributed 600 hygiene kits filled with combs, deodorants, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Fifty students received free haircuts and 50 school uniforms were donated to J.W. Ray Elementary School.

This is the second year BGCT staff members have partnered with the Roseland Community Center to help students. BGCT Community Development Director Gerald Davis, who spearheaded the effort, said the projects provide an avenue for BGCT staff to work together on a practical Texas Hope 2010 project that involves praying for a neighborhood, caring for its members and sharing the gospel.

“I think this effort demonstrates even from headquarters we are implementing and being a part of the 2010 initiative,” Davis said. “We are serious about spreading the gospel with every person in Texas. We are committed to not allowing a child go to bed without a meal.”

BGCT staff members have raised $20,000 to place multimedia gospel compact discs in every home within a mile radius of the Baptist Building. Roughly 1,000 of those CDs were distributed through the school supply giveaway. Staff members also gave away 200 flying discs with gospel presentations on them.

Through Texas Hope 2010, Texas Baptists are seeking to share the gospel with every Texan by Easter 2010. Part of that effort is placing Scripture in all 8.8 million Texas homes by Easter 2010. One of the tools Texas Baptists are using to do that is a multimedia CD that costs $1 a piece.

Davis said he hopes the event helps students discover the hope that Christ provides and starts their school year well.

“It’s a humbling experience to be part of what He is doing as He brings wholeness and wellness to our community,” Davis said.